Some homes and businesses in Gary, Indiana, still without power 13 days after storms

Thirteen days after severe storms hit Gary, Indiana, on August 11th, a significant number of homes and businesses remained without power. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton deemed the restoration pace "unacceptable," with over 38,300 customers initially affected. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported that most of the 370,000 affected customers had power restored, with remaining outages expected to be fixed by Tuesday. The prolonged outage has been particularly difficult for residents in the predominantly Black and impoverished city, with some drawing parallels to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In response, Indiana Governor Mike Braun has directed the state consumer advocate to investigate NIPSCO's preparedness and response, including its vegetation management practices. Experts note that disinvestment in cities like Gary exacerbates the impact of such weather events.

Gary, Indiana Mayor Eddie Melton has declared it "unacceptable" that thousands of residents remain without power nearly two weeks after a derecho storm on August 11th caused widespread outages. As of Monday morning, over 10,000 homes were still affected, though this is down from a peak of over 374,500. Mayor Melton is pressuring Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco) to restore power by Tuesday, emphasizing the hardship faced by families and businesses. Nipsco anticipates full service restoration by Tuesday and is receiving assistance from other utility companies. Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Nipsco, alleging negligence in tree maintenance, which the company denies. Relief efforts, including supply drives and debris removal operations, are underway.